The Smells of Loss and Healing

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 When looking back in my memory for a suitable story having to do with smell, my mind went back to when I was a kid. After my dad passed away, my memory kind of blurs and contorts, but one of my first big impressions of my mom in the after-time had to do with smell. She was only forty when he passed away, and nothing prompts somebody to fall into a midlife crisis like a large tumultuous event like a loss. Her new drug of choice was essential oils. Not in the antivax way, but to compliment them: to dispel mosquitoes or ease headaches or digestion, to put in baths or baked goods. Most commonly, we would make what she called "lotions and potions"- scented oils in any smells we wanted. Though she long lost interest in it, I can see why at the time she gravitated to the allure of smells as a way to escape loss. Green spoke of  "Soothing odors" (72) in The Aroma of Righteousness, as spoken of in the Hebrew Bible, as smells were extolled by the ancient Jewish people, as they were used heavily in religious ceremony. They invade the brain and intoxicate the other senses, are often first impressions and lasting memories. If this brought her peace, it is understandable. 

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